Good for you all-around, Joe. Much like travel is as much about the journey as it is the destination, the value of this kind of project is exploring and better understanding ourselves as much as it is about beach photos for the Gram.
I’ve lived within a 30-35 pound window as an adult, with many factors leading me one way or another (long story). I don’t count calories or weigh myself, but my clothes always tell me the truth.
I try to eat a solid, filling lunch. And mostly just salads for dinner, with limited meat in general. I gave up breakfast a few years ago, unless I’m going to be unusually active that morning.
I try to swim and bike a significant distance once each per week, and I sometimes glance at the adjustable dumbbells in our condo. For me, exercise is more about maintaining mental health. Any other health benefits are a bonus.
But I also like to have a beer pretty often, plus bits of chocolate and ice cream, and I would sell my soul for endless sour cream and onion chips.
I’m still about 20 pounds over what I think my ideal weight is, but I get closer when I do a bike tour or when the sun starts setting after 5pm.
All of that said, we should understand what a ridiculous place America is regarding food. Every time I read a story about the school lunches in France or Italy I realize how our food system is waaaay more about creating profit than giving us solid nutrition. We all can eat well, but goddamn there are so many hurdles we have to clear first.
And don’t get me started on the impact of non-walkable communities, driving, and such in the land of freedom. I mean, the Dutch dip their fries in mayo and seem to be doing better than us.
So yes, if you are maintaining your weight as an older person in America then you are doing something correct. Push harder if you can, but do not be ashamed or sad.
Thanks, Doug. I'll offer a deeper response next week. But I will say, I think hundreds of years from now, they'll think we were crazy for living in non-walkable communities and will marvel at how blind we all were to negative effects. I think it's a HUGE reason why Bobcats love OU so much: https://joedonatelli.substack.com/p/why-do-we-all-love-ohio-university
Interesting comment about "when the sun starts setting after 5pm." Do you think there is a natural ebb and flow to weight gain/loss and that it is supposed to be that way?
And my son is dating a girl from Italy (currently working here), and he spent almost three weeks in northern Italy around Thanksgiving visiting her home town. The pictures were absolutely gorgeous. They hiked the mountains there and ate the local cuisine which was actually very simple. He ate breakfast sitting outside at a little cafe in 50 degree weather. They walked everywhere. That is what they do. And now I want to relocate....
You're killing it, my friend. I'm back to counting Weight Watchers points because as the wise Laura wrote, it works! Though making room for the pizza points and being out of points the rest of the day is no fun. :)
Wow...you got a lot of good advice this week (not talking about me) and I hope I learn from it too. I tried looking up "converting WW points to calories" and it confused me. I'm comfortable with points so I'm sticking with those. WW has been around for a long time and has worked for me before.
I looked up what to eat and not eat on a keto diet and I decided I could not eat like that for the rest of my life. That is my goal....eating in a way that will help me lose weight and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. And I like what your friend said about what you eat is king and exercise is queen. Exercise makes me feel good (words I never thought I would say....or type).
I did not lose this week, but I did not gain either so that's a plus. I did discover something though. Our family has always been very traditional. When the kids were home we always ate dinner together. Even now, most of them come over for Sunday dinner. I am the cook. I cook dinner for my husband and me every night. There have been a couple times where circumstances kept us away from home and out late where I decided to skip dinner because of the late time we returned. That one meal often leads to weight loss. It's hard to skip dinner because it is a special time with my husband, but I think not eating that one final meal of the day is what I need to do occasionally. Maybe I'll try that this week and see what happens.
And please don't quit! I don't like talking to people about "dieting" because I feel they then watch everything I do, and I don't want to be that person always talking about it. I do WW online because I don't want to go to meetings and talk about celery sticks. It's nice knowing someone else going through the same thing. Good luck this week! And I am going to look up BMR.
Good for you all-around, Joe. Much like travel is as much about the journey as it is the destination, the value of this kind of project is exploring and better understanding ourselves as much as it is about beach photos for the Gram.
I’ve lived within a 30-35 pound window as an adult, with many factors leading me one way or another (long story). I don’t count calories or weigh myself, but my clothes always tell me the truth.
I try to eat a solid, filling lunch. And mostly just salads for dinner, with limited meat in general. I gave up breakfast a few years ago, unless I’m going to be unusually active that morning.
I try to swim and bike a significant distance once each per week, and I sometimes glance at the adjustable dumbbells in our condo. For me, exercise is more about maintaining mental health. Any other health benefits are a bonus.
But I also like to have a beer pretty often, plus bits of chocolate and ice cream, and I would sell my soul for endless sour cream and onion chips.
I’m still about 20 pounds over what I think my ideal weight is, but I get closer when I do a bike tour or when the sun starts setting after 5pm.
All of that said, we should understand what a ridiculous place America is regarding food. Every time I read a story about the school lunches in France or Italy I realize how our food system is waaaay more about creating profit than giving us solid nutrition. We all can eat well, but goddamn there are so many hurdles we have to clear first.
And don’t get me started on the impact of non-walkable communities, driving, and such in the land of freedom. I mean, the Dutch dip their fries in mayo and seem to be doing better than us.
So yes, if you are maintaining your weight as an older person in America then you are doing something correct. Push harder if you can, but do not be ashamed or sad.
Thanks, Doug. I'll offer a deeper response next week. But I will say, I think hundreds of years from now, they'll think we were crazy for living in non-walkable communities and will marvel at how blind we all were to negative effects. I think it's a HUGE reason why Bobcats love OU so much: https://joedonatelli.substack.com/p/why-do-we-all-love-ohio-university
Interesting comment about "when the sun starts setting after 5pm." Do you think there is a natural ebb and flow to weight gain/loss and that it is supposed to be that way?
And my son is dating a girl from Italy (currently working here), and he spent almost three weeks in northern Italy around Thanksgiving visiting her home town. The pictures were absolutely gorgeous. They hiked the mountains there and ate the local cuisine which was actually very simple. He ate breakfast sitting outside at a little cafe in 50 degree weather. They walked everywhere. That is what they do. And now I want to relocate....
You're killing it, my friend. I'm back to counting Weight Watchers points because as the wise Laura wrote, it works! Though making room for the pizza points and being out of points the rest of the day is no fun. :)
You've got this. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Wow...you got a lot of good advice this week (not talking about me) and I hope I learn from it too. I tried looking up "converting WW points to calories" and it confused me. I'm comfortable with points so I'm sticking with those. WW has been around for a long time and has worked for me before.
I looked up what to eat and not eat on a keto diet and I decided I could not eat like that for the rest of my life. That is my goal....eating in a way that will help me lose weight and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. And I like what your friend said about what you eat is king and exercise is queen. Exercise makes me feel good (words I never thought I would say....or type).
I did not lose this week, but I did not gain either so that's a plus. I did discover something though. Our family has always been very traditional. When the kids were home we always ate dinner together. Even now, most of them come over for Sunday dinner. I am the cook. I cook dinner for my husband and me every night. There have been a couple times where circumstances kept us away from home and out late where I decided to skip dinner because of the late time we returned. That one meal often leads to weight loss. It's hard to skip dinner because it is a special time with my husband, but I think not eating that one final meal of the day is what I need to do occasionally. Maybe I'll try that this week and see what happens.
And please don't quit! I don't like talking to people about "dieting" because I feel they then watch everything I do, and I don't want to be that person always talking about it. I do WW online because I don't want to go to meetings and talk about celery sticks. It's nice knowing someone else going through the same thing. Good luck this week! And I am going to look up BMR.
Not quitting! Doubling down!